Blattman Chronicles

I opened the proverbial can of worms today. But it's okay because I am so excited for the adventure!! I decided the girls finally needed a bunk bed. I am not a lover of bunk beds, but my hands are tied, similarly to when our family necessitated a mini-van. So I needed to refinish the bunk bed, which meant, I needed to refinish the dressers. But then I decided Hudson's dresser was bigger so the girls should have that one. But I can't let Hudson have Annie's dresser because it's pink. So I better redo her dresser for him. And then, I suppose his bed will have to match, but I think I am going to switch beds for him too. That one is pink so I better redo it. And then I thought, I need the rooms to match so I better paint both of those as well. Are you tired of being in my head yet?! Since I have so much time on my hands with all of Gracie's doctor visits and school volunteering and church and coaching soccer and teaching piano and not feeling so great and just being...

I had a ton of people ask me about granola. I don't claim to be an expert creator…only an expert consumer! As far as the granola goes, I have a base recipe I use, but then I just dump whatever is in my pantry into the mix. I usually use 3-4c of oats 1/3 c oil (I used organic coconut oil this last time for a fun flavor) 1/4c honey 1/2c brown sugar salt to taste A few shakes of cinnamon This time I added a heaping handful of whole flax seed, sunflower seeds, chopped mango, cranberries, cashews, and raisins (other times I have added a little vanilla, dried cherries, almonds, pecans, walnuts, dried guava, coconut, I have even put a little bit of maple syrup in there before to tweak the flavor) ADD the DRIED FRUIT AFTER YOU COOK EVERYTHING!! I'm sorry this is not more specific, but I am not much or a recipe person. After I mix it all in a large bowl, I spread it out on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with PAM and then cook it in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes. I usually stir th...

 It's time to say good-bye to the ranch. It's time to go home!

As cousins camp came to a close, everyone strapped on their spurs for one last celebration of the inner cowboy. We had ourselves a family rodeo. Hudson competed in barrel racing; where he did, what? you may ask? Raced his horse around 3 barrels. I got to do pole bending. I laced my horses back and through a line of 8 or so poles. We ended with a relay of lassoing, yeehawing, and chucking horse apples.

So Annie can whip out movie quotes like there’s no tomorrow.  She often uses them in day to day conversation with a remarkably straight face.  She seems to get her brand of humor from her Uncle Brian.  Can you guess the movie? Annie and I are at the island putting goodies bags together for her birthday.  She puts on a bead then struggles to bend the pipe cleaner into a heart.  She sighs, flops the items onto the table and says the following to herself. Annie Maybe I should just quit and go back to making noodles. Did you guess Kung Fu Panda?  Background We have always referenced body parts by their names at our house, but lately the kids have been using the word, privates.  Which doesn’t bother me one way or the other as long as they know the proper terminology, but that information is necessary for the following story… While watching a penguin scene. Annie What?! His name is Private?  Agh! ( You can see the genuine shock on her face ) Me It’s ...

Hudson Mom, why did you buy a new trashcan? Me …because the other one had super gross stuff in it I couldn’t really get out. Hudson Daddy cleaned it out and now it’s the recycling can in the garage. Me  It’s handy isn’t it. And that’s one of the reasons I love Daddy! Hudson  No Mom, you didn’t need a recycling container. You have a blue one outside. Hudson’s monologue begins. Hudson You know you really shouldn’t buy new stuff when the old stuff is just fine. You just buy, buy, buy stuff when we don’t need it. You remind me of Stanley Stuff-It. You buy lots of stuff we don’t need and then you stuff it everywhere. You need to save our money. We need to have money so we can go to Legoland as a family and we can’t do that if you keep buying things and stuffing them everywhere. (Stanely Stuff-It was a book Hudson read in school). Shock on my part ensued for his poignant delivery as well as sober tone. Clearly, I thought I was doing better than I really was. Lesson learned. Don’...

Annie is getting her first birthday party this year. We have the 5 year rule in our house…no parties before you are 5. Boy has she gone super girly with her theme. Too bad most of her friends are boys. I guess we’ll see how it goes.

I have never been one for enjoying a chorus of whining, begging or nagging. So from quite a young age, Will and I made our children quite independent. Hudson often times gets his own breakfast in the morning and will even make something for Annie as well. Hudson has been solid on getting his own breakfast if he is hungry for the last 2 years or so. On Saturdays he will even make himself a sandwich for lunch. Usually if my kids want something done they do it themselves. This independence backfires on occasion and a few days ago was one of those blessed occasions. My kids are free while I do piano lessons on Thursdays from 2-4(I'm maybe 15 feet away from them in the next room). The normal routine includes me letting the kids watch an afternoon movie with some snacks and Will comes rolling in the door as the movie finishes. Now that Hudson has gone full day, he gets dropped off in the middle of lessons on Thursdays so I don't get a chance to chat with him as he walks in the door. ...

 After the kids are in bed each night, Will and I usually end up flipping on the TV and snuggling on the couch. I make the snack and open all of the windows, the double doors and the garage to let a breeze through the house. It really is heavenly. Well, my world has been partially shattered this last week…twice…due to some unexpected visitors. Take 1…Will is sitting on the couch and I am walking over with popcorn. I get about 5 feet from the door ready to sit down when I see this huge looking rat thing turn from the French doors and scurry away. I only got a good look at the back so the thick, naked tail hinted that it wasn't a cat. It looked to be about 10lbs. so the logical part of my brain told me it wasn't a rat, while the illogical part of my brain wigged out and started doing a heeby geeby dance on the ottoman long after it had left. After making Will google rats, moles(to his chagrin) and other rodents I identified it as an opossum (I know they are supposed to be mostly ...

Frequenting the beach as much as we do had me thinking we'd seen it all. Boy was today full of firsts. My friend, Amy and I took our kiddos to the beach today. First #1 The Seal I was surprised today to see a seal gliding along the waves. It looked like a human body at first until the wave more fully formed and we got a good silhouette of its body high gloss waves today. First #2 Annie Bannanie She is finally back in the water for the first time since her scary roll of death in the waves a few months ago. She is loving life on the cautious side. First #3 My New Pets I never really got pets growing up and I just happened upon a little colony of clams/mussels/Bivalvia... whatever you want to call them. As the tide started to go out hundreds of these little guys, the size of my pinky, were left behind digging like crazy to get back into the water. I couldn't help digging them back up. Amy and I had 300 or so in our hands showing the kids the siphons and the foot that came out when...

So I was "served" a subpoena for a criminal court case today...as a witness. When I think of "being served" I usually think of a nice lamb roulade or a decadent, chocolate black truffle cake at a fancy restaurant. It threw me a little off guard considering: #1 I am not a criminal. #2 I do not engage in criminal activity. #3 There was no waiter in sight holding anything remotely resembling truffle. After a quick panic, here is a conclusion I drew all by myself...ready? I haven't witnessed any murders...EVER!! This was easily checked by noticing the name at the top of the subpoena. It did NOT belong to me. I called the attorney's office and found out they deal only with criminal cases and witness protection...should I be worried that the guy who used to live in my house is in witness protection for whatever crime he saw being committed?! Maybe The Mob will show up at my doorstep tomorrow.